The new awards go to festivals worldwide, including US Festivals Rothbury and California's West Beach Music & Arts Festival which join first-round winners Bonnaroo and the Atlanta Jazz Festival. International winners in 2009 include Glastonbury, and Australia's Peats Ridge.

The award is awarded in three categories: "improving," "outstanding," and the standard "Greener Festival" award which falls between the two. The organizers of the award, UK non-profit A Greener Festival, said that they were particularly pleased that 12 festivals had won the "outstanding" award in 2009, including repeat winners Rothbury and Bonnaroo in the US. The Award is based on a 56 part questionnaire which covers office management, greenhouse gas emissions, supporting green initiatives, travel and transport, waste and recycling, water management, environmental protection and noise reduction.Almost all the festivals were visited by an independent auditor to assess their green efforts.

Auditors were pleased this year by Bonnaroo, which also won an "outstanding" award in 2008. The festival auditor noted that in 2009, Bonnaroo concentrated on a "Buy Local" message, and improved their energy footprint by installing new electrical capabilities. This allowed them to plug directly into the local power grid and reduced their energy consumption in the process. Other on site features include permanent water wells, a composting pad and the newly planted Bonnaroo Victory Vegetable Garden. Bonnaroo's many areas of education include the necessity of carbon reduction, the need for composting, reducing bottle water usage, viable uses of solar energy, recycling everything possible, and reducing the use of unnecessary items.


Not to be outdone, Michigan's Rothbury Festival, also a 2008 "outstanding" award winner, scooped up the same award in 2009. The festival, which heavily promotes its green credentials, impressed its auditor with its effective promotion of alternatives to bottled water, impressive rates of composting and recycling, and a commitment to sourcing products locally that stretched all the way to the stages, where several local bands were given the chance to play to new audiences. According to Sarah Haynes, President of the Spitfire Agency, Rothbury's greening consultant, "Rothbury works hard to have the minimum impact on the planet while having the maximum impact on its people. We always 'green' with transparency in the hopes that others will take notice and join us in this most important mission."

Two other US festivals won the award for the first time in 2009. California's West Beach event, held on the beach in Santa Barbara, joined the Atlanta Jazz Fest in garnering the awards.

All winning festivals will receive a special trophy designed by Sade Goddard from Keswick School in Cumbria, England. Goddard designed the award as part of a competition among UK school children. Her winning design features a Red Kite motif and is made from recycled plastic bottles, crushed CDs and remolded "Wellington" boots, a necessity at the perennially muddy Glastonbury festival.

The winner of the overall Greener Festival Award 2009 will be announced at the UK Festival Awards which will be held at the O2 Arena in London on November 19th 2009.

A Greener Festival co-founder Ben Challis said “We were worried that in a year when the recession bit hard we might see Festivals shying away from their ongoing commitment to green issues, but we have been generally pleased with the efforts of festivals around the world to keep sustainability high on their own agenda and to promote environmental awareness to fans. We had more ‘outstanding’ winners in 2009 and a 20% rise in applications from 2008, with more international applications than ever including five winners from Australia, four from the USA and four from mainland Europe.

The Greener Festival Awards are supported by insurance brokers Robertson Taylor.

Labels: A Greener Festival, Atlanta Jazz Festival, Bonnaroo, Rothbury, West Beach Festival

Originally published at: http://www.jambase.com/Articles/16562/WANTED--Environmental-Auditors-For-Greener-Festival-Awards

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WANTED: Environmental Auditors for the Greener Festival Awards

Thirty-two music festivals around the world picked up the Greener Festival Award in 2008 for implementing sound environmental practices at their events and helping in the fight against climate change and waste. To receive the Award, each festival must submit a four page application form with details of their green efforts. To maintain the integrity of the Award, each event is independently assessed by an Environmental Auditor. The Auditors verify the accuracy of each application and make their own assessment of the festival's environmentally friendly practices.

The Greener Festival Award is now looking for additional Auditors for the United States. This position is not paid but there is a $200 travel stipend per festival and festivals will also provide two tickets with limited backstage access for the Auditor and one guest. Most audits take between half a day and one full day to complete. The Auditor is expected to write up a short report on a pre-formatted form. The rest of the time at the festival is the Auditor's own to enjoy.

The Greener Festival Award is looking for festival fans that have a background of working live events or have a background in environmental science. Current Auditors include a venue manager, a journalist, an artist manager, a record company executive, a TV producer, a festival manager and two environmental scientists. Above all, Auditors must understand the workings of a music festival and have the confidence to ask questions about environmental practices at a live event.

A number of festivals around the U.S. have expressed an interest in receiving the award for 2009 and interested professionals with relevant experience from all areas of the U.S. are invited to apply. To apply, please email a resume or description of your relevant work experience and a short note explaining why you feel you are qualified to be an environmental auditor to agreenerfestival@aol.com by April 30 2009. Don't forget to tell them where you live and how far from home you're willing to travel.

Festivals interested in receiving the award are also encouraged to get in touch at the same email address or download an application package from www.agreenerfestival.com.

Labels: A Greener Festival, festivals

Head on over to the JamBase newswire to read about the "outstanding" A Greener Festival Awards given to Bonnaroo and Rothbury.

Labels: A Greener Festival, Bonnaroo, jason, Rothbury